Egypt, Jordan Stress Two-State Solution for Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

Egypt's President Sisi receives Jordan's King Abdullah II in Cairo. (Petra news agency)
Egypt's President Sisi receives Jordan's King Abdullah II in Cairo. (Petra news agency)
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Egypt, Jordan Stress Two-State Solution for Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

Egypt's President Sisi receives Jordan's King Abdullah II in Cairo. (Petra news agency)
Egypt's President Sisi receives Jordan's King Abdullah II in Cairo. (Petra news agency)

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II met in Cairo on Monday to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, underscoring their support for a two-state solution.

In a statement Monday, Sisi's office said the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders had agreed on "the importance of intensifying efforts" to resume peace talks.

They stressed the talks should abide by the two-state solution long accepted internationally as the basis for a solution: a "Palestinian state based on the June 1967 boundaries with East Jerusalem as its capital."

The meeting comes ahead of an expected visit to the region by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior White House advisor Jared Kushner, who is pushing a controversial peace plan rejected by the Palestinians and criticized by Jordan.

Kushner's initiative, partially unveiled at a Bahrain conference in June, dangled the prospect of pumping $50 billion-worth of investment into the stagnant Palestinian economy.

But it failed to address key Palestinian demands such as the establishment of their own independent state.

The political side of the plan has yet to be released.

Trump's administration has broken with that consensus, unilaterally recognizing the deeply contested city of Jerusalem as capital of Israel and slashing funding for the UN agency for Palestinians.

The Bahrain forum was boycotted by Palestinian Authority, while Jordan and Egypt sent low-level representatives.

The Palestinian leadership has boycotted Trump and accused him of using promises of cash to try to impose political solutions whilst ignoring Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

After meeting Sisi, the Jordanian monarch headed to Tunisia to offer condolences following the death of president Beji Caid Essebsi.



Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.